Downtimes
Downtime Actions: Between games, people’s characters don’t go into hibernation - they stay busy accomplishing various goals and tasks! This is represented by Downtime Actions. Each character receives a Downtime Action between games that they may use to perform certain tasks, such as research, crafting an item, traveling to deliver an important message, and earning money, among other things. Ask a member of Staff if you are unsure whether a particular task requires use of a Downtime Action. Description Downtime Actions are meant to represent the fact that adventurers (characters) don't sit idle between adventures (games). Instead, they look for clues to solving a riddle, research ancient knowledge to improve their skills, and try to earn a little extra coin to fund their heroics. Some Downtime Actions are things that you can't accomplish during an actual game session (for instance, researching an obscure Lore; we as Staff need time to discuss, write, and review the results of that research). Others are things that you could accomplish, but you might not have the time or opportunity, so you choose to do it between games.. Submit Downtimes at the Ticket Desk! Possible Actions 1. Earn money; if your character has the Profession skill (or some other ability which lets you earn money between games), you can spend 1 Downtime Action to earn a set amount of coins that will be added to your packet at the next game (usually a small amount, between 3-5 ceram, but there are ways to increase this). 2. Acquire a mundane item; if you are in need of a new shield (or any other commonly available item), and didn't have any luck finding one during play, you may spend your Downtime Action purchasing it. You must still spend the actual in-game cost of the item; the coins will be removed from your packet before the next 3. Craft an item; if you have a Crafting skill, you may craft one item (from that skill) during a Downtime Action. This can also be done during game, but sometimes you just never find the time, and you really want to mix up that new Alchemical concoction you just discovered, or craft a cool new weapon out of special materials you found. You must still pay any monetary costs and use any resources that the item normally requires, but this saves you from needing to spend an hour in-game making it. 4. Learn a skill/ability/spell; sometimes during a game you'll meet someone who can teach you a skill, ability, or spell that you didn't know about. If this person offers to teach you, and you accept, you must spend a Downtime Action learning that skill, ability, or spell in addition to any XP or monetary costs that are required. The teacher can be a PC or an NPC; if it's a PC, they must also spend a Downtime Action teaching you the skill, ability, or spell. 5. Research a Lore skill you possess; if you have the appropriate Lore skill, you may spend a Downtime Action to research anything related to that Lore. The results of your research will be in your character packet at the following game. For example: If I have Lore: Mylyrael and I want to look into a cursed's genealogy, my character would spend the intervening months researching in libraries and interviewing people who knew the cursed's parents, grandparents, etc. At the next game, I would receive the information in my character packet. 6. Research a Lore skill you *don't* possess; if you have a piece of information that you think is important or interesting that you wish to do research into, but don't have the appropriate Lore skill, fear not. You can research that topic, but it requires two Downtime Actions to do so. For example: Say I'm a bit of a Lore monkey, and I have Lore: Air Magic, Enchantment, Tactics, Old Gods, and Gypsies. I discover that there is an ancient order dedicated to St. Brul, the Saint of Valor, that I want to know more about, but none of my Lore skills are applicable. I don't have an XP to spare, so I choose to spend one Downtime Action gathering sources and compiling information (old historical tomes, interviewing people who might know, reviewing popular myths, whatever). I don't get anything in my packet at the next game, because I'm not quite done yet. Then I spend a second Downtime Action after the next game to sort through the information I've gathered, finding the reliable information and disregarding the obviously false or fanciful accounts. At the following game, I receive a write-up for my hard work. Those with more than 1 Downtime Action can research Lores they don't possess in one Downtime Cycle (the time period between games). 7. Perform some story-related action; such as in the case of those who are spending a Downtime Action to assist Similiviax, the Naga. It could be to simply ensure that a loose plot thread is wrapped up, or to garner some story benefit for a future use (say, sticking around to help a group of villagers in order to improve your public image). For example: I meet a Frost Giant who is attempting to create a metal man, but can't seem to get it to work outside of the magic circle he created. I offer to spend a Downtime Action using my Artifice skill to augment the Giant's magic, and help him achieve his goal. The Giant offers me a magic item of my choosing, but more importantly I've made a new, possibly very powerful, friend. 8. Miscellaneous actions; if you want to do something with your Downtime Action, let us know. We may tell you it's not possible because it violates the rules; if so, we apologize, but that's the way it is. We're more than happy to help you find some other way of using your Downtime Action. Or we might warn you that you won't receive anything of great value out of it, but that you can do it anyway. An example: One PC said "I want to see if there are any illnesses afflicting the area for the next game". This isn't technically a Lore skill, but the character had Chirurgery (which is arguably close enough), so we went ahead and processed the Downtime Action for that PC.